Syria’s President al-Assad: Chemical Weapons Will Be Destroyed

While it became known that Germany has supplied over 100 tons of chemicals to Syria between 2002 and 2006, the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad vowed in new statements that Syria will comply the steps to put its chemical weapons arsenal under an international supervision and that the chemical stockpiles will be destroyed.

Officials from Germany have confirmed that Berlin has sent over 100 tons of “dual-use” chemicals to Syria between 2002 and 2006 and that these chemicals were potential ingredients for the production of the nerve gas Sarin. However, everybody who has a bit knowledge in regards of chemistry is a potential producer of Sarin because the production of Sarin does not need an intensive knowledge of chemistry. On the contrary, the production of Sarin is easy.

It is to mention that the shipments of more than 100 tons of chemicals by Berlin to Syria is no surprise. Just like the German intelligence service has worked hand in hand with the Syrian intelligence till the beginning of the conflict in the Arab country, also German companies and government installations have worked with the Syrian side. The so-called “Syrian regime” was never a problem for the democratic government in Germany and the both intelligence agencies were really good partners on many levels.

German officials have confirmed that ammonium bifluoride, hydrogen fluoride, and sodium fluoride were among the supplied chemicals, and these chemicals could be used for the production of Sarin gas. However, they also have hundreds of domestic, industrial, and agricultural uses and under consideration of the stockpiles in Syria in terms of chemical weapons, it would be a huge surprise if the Syrian government would have produced a lot of Sarin nerve gas in recent years.

Further, the German officials have stressed that the chemicals sent to Syria were not used for military purposes. However, it remains questionable how should they know about this. Germany also stated that Saudi Arabia won`t use the shipments of German tanks against its civilians or the population of Bahrain, but….

Meanwhile, the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview with the often biased Fox News that the Syrian government and he himself is committed to the Russia-US agreement about the chemical weapons arsenal in Syria. Syria’s President al-Assad then vowed to hand over the chemical stockpiles on Syrian soil to an international control, and that the chemical arms will be destroyed later. Bashar al-Assad added that the plan about Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal will cost around $1 billion and that it will probably take about a year to complete all the steps of the agreement regarding the chemical weapons of Syria.

Thus, Syria’s President has again confirmed that he and the government in the capital Damascus is willing and ready to hand over its chemical weapons, so that the chemical arms will be destroyed later.

The President of Syria said also that it is technically a very “complicated operation” and will need a lot of money. Assad added that it one has to ask the experts what they mean “by quickly” regarding the time for the plan to hand over the chemical weapons to an international supervision and to destroy these Syrian CW agents later. According to the new statements by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the process will probably need a year or “maybe a little more” to be completed.

Bashar al-Assad has again underlined in this interview with Fox News that the units of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) were not behind the chemical attack in suburbs of Damascus on August 21 and that this chemical attack was a clear violation of international law. Assad said that this act was “despicable” and clearly “a crime.”

Syria’s President also said in this interview that the Syrian government has evidence that the foreign-backed terrorist groups fighting in Syria have used Sarin gas and pointed out that the entire story that the Syrian government would have used the nerve gas Sarin in attacks simply “doesn’t even hold together” and this is certainly true. Bashar al-Assad added that the Syrian side has not used any chemical weapons.

Referring to the published UN report by the inspectors and the confirmation that a chemical weapons attack did take place in the countryside of Damascus, the Syrian President al-Assad said that Sarin gas can be produced by anyone and this is correct.

It is, as mentioned, not hard to make Sarin gas. With a little bit of knowledge and probably with access to the internet, everybody is certainly able to produce Sarin gas. Bashar al-Assad also hinted in his new interview with the often biased Fox News that there is a possibility that foreign governments could have been behind the chemical weapons attack in suburbs of Syria’s capital, Damascus. He said that “anyone can make Sarin in his house” and that Sarin gas is also called “kitchen gas” because of that. Assad added that all those “rebels are supported by governments.”

The Syrian President also stressed that the decision to destroy the chemical weapons stockpiles was not forced upon the Syrian government in Damascus by the threat of possible US-led military strikes on Syria.

Assad said that there is a “misunderstanding that we agreed with this agreement because of the American threat” and explained that the US threat was not about the handing over of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles, but the threat by the United States was about attacking Syria in order to not use the chemical arsenal again – before the Russian proposal to put Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal under an international supervision was on the table.

The Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said further that it was clearly not about the US threat and that Syria never would obey to any threat. The Syrian government has actually responded to Russia’s proposal and to its own conviction and needs, according to al-Assad.

Syria’s President al-Assad finally said in this interview in direction to the U.S. President Barack Obama that Obama should listen to the American people and that the President of the United States should “follow the common sense” of his people in terms of Syria and the plan to launch a military attack on the Arab country. The majority of the American people reject a war against Syria. Not to mention that certainly nobody wants U.S. soldiers fighting alongside Al-Qaeda in Syria while other American soldiers get killed by Al-Qaeda in e.g. Afghanistan.